The present invention generally relates to text files and in particular, to a method for securely providing a text file for execution.
Commercial software programs are generally sold in binary executable form to protect their code from being copied by others. However, a software program written as a text file in a scripting language such as Perl, JavaScript or Tcl/Tk is hard to prevent from being read by others since such files are written and executed in plain text (ASCII) format. Therefore, if a software vendor desires to sell such text files as commercial products, the vendor must somehow protect the text file from being read by the end user.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for securely providing a text file for execution.
This and additional objects are accomplished by the various aspects of the present invention, wherein briefly stated, one aspect of the invention is a method for securely providing a text file for execution, comprising: providing an encrypted text file; and providing a program for generating a decrypted text file by decrypting the encrypted text file, and feeding the decrypted text file to an interpreter for execution.
Another aspect of the invention is a computer readable medium storing binary information comprising: an encrypted text file; and a program for generating a decrypted text file by decrypting the encrypted text file and feeding the decrypted text file to an interpreter for execution.